The Food Standards Agency says 26 million people are in danger from high blood pressure, strokes and heart attacks because they eat too much of the seasoning.

The recommended daily consumption is 6g per person. But the agency says 26 million regularly eat more than that and 2.3million eat more than 18g a day. Men eat a daily average of 11g of salt and women an average of 8.1g.

The FSA is launching a ?4million campaign aimed at the public and the food industry. In particular it is targeting consumers of processed food, including ready meals and pizzas. About 75 per cent of salt comes from such items.

The FSA said diseases associated with high salt intake kill about 200,000 people a year.

Chairman Sir John Krebs said: "Cutting down on salt significantly reduces your risk of developing high blood pressure. Those with high blood pressure are three times more likely to develop heart disease and stroke, and twice as likely to die from these diseases."

Sir John said that although the food industry is likely to meet its own target of a 1g reduction in processed foods by the end of next year, he wanted it to do more.

But, according to reports, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Asda and Iceland have ignored the request. A spokeswoman for Sainsbury's said: "We are not going to meet that deadline because we believe our action plan, agreed with the FSA, is fine."